Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None

About Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None

Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None (With 16 Chapters) (also known simply as And Then There Were None) is a 2005 point-and-click adventure game developed by AWE Productions and published by The Adventure Company for Microsoft Windows. It was the first in The Adventure Company's Agatha Christie series. The game is a detective murder-mystery; it begins with nine people, including Patrick Narracott, the playable character, who meet and journey to the fictional Shipwreck (Soldier) Island. There, two additional onscreen characters are introduced, and the story then follows the events that unfold.

And Then There Were None retains most of the basic plot elements of Agatha Christie's 1939 novel of the same name; the major differences are the inclusion of the playable character, Patrick Narracott, and the creation of a range of possible endings. To further the connection between the game and its source material, Christie's novel was included in the North American PC release of the game. Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None was followed by two more games, Agatha Christie: Murder on the Orient Express and Agatha Christie: Evil Under the Sun. Since they were based on their respective novels, their plots were unrelated to this first game.

Reactions to the game were mixed, with many reviewers polarized in their opinions: some calling it a good adaptation of the novel; others, an extremely poor adventure game. Several reviews harshly criticized the game's character design and graphics as being archaic and outdated, whereas others praised aspects such as character dialogue and a captivating story.

The events of the book, with the exception of the killer's identity and the player character, are closely retained in the game. The game begins with eight of the characters (all but the two servants) arriving at the fictional seaside town of Sticklehaven, where they are to be ferried to Shipwreck Island by Patrick Narracott (who is substituting for his brother who is "under the weather"). When they arrive on the island, the other two characters are introduced, but when Patrick returns to his boat he finds it sabotaged, forcing him to stay on the island. Later, Blore confesses to Patrick that he is the one who damaged the boat, believing Patrick to be his brother Fred, who he thought was a thief. At dinner that night, the guests discover that none of them have met, or are familiar with, "U.N. Owen", the enigmatic host who invited most of them to the party.

After dinner, a gramophone record accuses the ten non-player characters of getting away with murder. Moments later, Anthony Marston dies after drinking a poisoned cocktail. That night, Ethel Rogers dies of a drug overdose in her sleep. The deaths are initially thought to be suicides or accidents until, after the death of General MacArthur, Judge Wargrave determines that they are actually murders and that the host, U.N. Owen, is most likely the killer. Wargrave further speculates that Owen must be one of the remaining 8, and is following the pattern of the nursery rhyme over the fireplace, "Ten Little Sailor Boys". After each murder, one of the ten figurines in the dining room goes missing. Narracott is now established as the detective of the group since his presence on the island was not expected by the killer. It is also discovered that Lombard has brought a revolver to the island.

After the deaths of Thomas Rogers by axe and Emily Brent from anaphylactic shock from multiple bee stings, Lombard announces that his revolver has been stolen, and a search for it is fruitless. Narracott discovers he has been poisoned with the fictional drug Solidamide, but he obtains a remedy: a bottle of the fictional "Bellman's Universal Application", found near the site of Miss Brent's death. During a blackout after dinner that night, Wargrave is killed by a shot to the head. Later in the night, however, Wargrave's body goes missing along with Armstrong, whose drowned body washes up on the shore. Wargrave's body turns up later in the screening room, but looks to have been bludgeoned to death, rather than shot. Blore is also found to have been killed, his head caved in by a marble clock.